(Fire Starter Publishing: Gulf Breeze, FL) -- A new book by best-selling author, Stephen C. Beeson, M.D., Engaging Physicians: A Manual To Physician Partnerships (Fire Starter Publishing, 2009) takes leaders on a stepwise, staged journey to engage physicians in a systemwide effort and align physician behavior to achieve worthy organizational goals and create a performance culture.

"Physician involvement is a proven predictor of success for an organization's change efforts," says Beeson. "To be the best, you have to have these critical players in support of and aligned with the organization's mission. Physician partnership is never about mandating change, but collaborating to create strategies with a sincere leader sentiment of 'win-win' for patients, physicians, and the organization."

Beeson points out that what physicians do and say has a profound influence on others who look to them for leadership. Change is hard enough. If the clinical leaders are disengaged and misaligned to an organizational mission, change strategies can fail before they begin. Where physicians go, the rest of the organization will follow—and the most successful health care leaders in the nation have figured this out.

"Physicians will make or break the culture, performance, and reputation of the institution and can accelerate or unravel quality, safety, and service efforts," Beeson writes. "When physician alliance is created, physicians will be an organization's greatest champions, will expect more of themselves, will recruit their colleagues, will appoint physicians who align with the mission, and will leverage their influence to change the culture," he promises. "...When leaders and physicians become guided by a collaborative vision and unified effort, with physicians at the lead and champions for change, your organization can become unstoppable."

About the author
Beeson writes from his experience training hundreds of health systems across the country in physician engagement and performance improvement. He also served as physician champion and practicing physician for the Sharp Experience, a highly successful transformative effort, at Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group. Sharp Rees-Stealy is currently ranked the number one medical group in California in clinical quality and patient satisfaction and has received many awards and accolades over the past few years, including the 2007 Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award, which attests to the success of this initiative.